looking round upon them all, said: "Dear
children, God has been very good to us, and I think we ought to give him
thanks."

And standing there by the fire, they bowed their heads in a new
thanksgiving to Him whose keeping never fails by day or night. And then,
with hearts and voices subdued, and with quiet good nights, they went
their ways home.

But as the Cameron sleigh drove off with its load, Maimie looked back,
and seeing Ranald standing by the fire, she whispered to her aunt: "Oh,
auntie! Isn't he just splendid?"

But her aunt made no reply, seeing a new danger for them both, greater
than that they had escaped.

CHAPTER IX

A SABBATH DAY'S WORK

The Sabbath that followed the sugaring-off was to Maimie the most
remarkable Sabbath of her life up to that day. It was totally unlike the
Sabbath of her home, which, after the formal "church parade," as
Harry called it, in the morning, her father spent in lounging with his
magazine and pipe, her aunt in sleeping or in social gossip with such
friends as might drop in, and Harry and Maimie as best they could.

The Sabbath in the minister's house, as in the homes of his people, was
a day so set apart from other days that it had to be approached. The
Saturday afternoon and evening caught something of its atmosphere. No
frivolity, indeed no light amusement, was proper on the evening that put
a period to the worldly occupations and engagements of the week. That
evening was one of preparation. The house, and especially the kitchen,
was thoroughly "redd up." Wood, water, and kindlings were brought in,
clothes were brushed, boots greased or polished, dinner prepared, and
in every way possible the whole house, its dwellers, and its belongings,
made ready for the morrow. So, when the Sabbath morning dawned, people
awoke with a feeling that old things had passed away and that the whole
world was new. The sun shone with a radiance not known on other days. He
was shining upon holy things, and lighting men and women to holy duties.
Through all the farms the fields lay bathed in his genial glow, at rest,
and the very trees stood in silent worship of the bending heavens. Up
from stable and from kitchen came no sounds of work. The horses knew
that no wheel would turn that day in labor, and the dogs lay sleeping in
sunny nooks, knowing as well as any that there was to be no hunting or
roaming for them that day, unless they chose to go on a free hunt; which
none but light-head